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December 14, 2007
Tis the season for the atheist take on. . .
Each year round about this time, various "atheist groups". . . .
[Let me make a hard stop here and talk for a second about "atheist groups". There are a number of organizations out there that claim to be "atheist" in their theological construct. I don't consider these groups or any of their members (even the venerable Christopher Hitchens) to be actual atheists. Instead I look at them more as anti-religionists or perhaps more accurately anti-monotheists. It's my firm belief that atheism is a singular psychological position, and "groups" of "atheists" cannot accurately hold an atheist position. When any group organizes and expounds as a group a specific construct (even if that construct is devoid of a traditional god-construct) they have ceased to actually be atheists. When these groups organize they are merely replacing what would normally be a theocentric set of dogmatic rules and customs for a anti-theocentric set of dogmatic rules and customs. By creating their "anti-religion" they've in fact created just another "religion" and are merely substituting one god-construct or god-form for another concept or form (many times, it's the exact same concept or form, just with a different name). By organizing, they effectively destroy their individual central common themes and put into place simple substitutions for the artifacts and constructions of whichever religion(s) they are rebelling against.
The true atheist exists in a singular psychological space, it is a private battle to come to grips with atheism and it's a battle which must be undertaken alone and without resorting to simple substitution for the sake of substitution. This is a much larger topic than I wish to tackle right now so back to . . . ]
Round bout this time of year, the "atheist groups" get alot of airtime for their annual War on Christmas, they also usually feint at a Supreme Court run on topics like "In God We Trust" on our money, or they might go after Christmas trees and nativity scenes on public property, or they might just make a nuisance of themselves by complaining about the use of the word Christmas instead of Holiday (which is even more offensive to a real atheist than the word Christmas).
These attacks are usually doomed to failure, and the troublemakers know that their effort will most likely fail, however winning isn't really what they are after, they're after converts. Part of organizing atheists involves getting more members for your anti-church/group. Holding a rally round the local Christmas tree and calling for it's removal is a proselytizing function (again, this function is anti-thetical to true atheism). Simply put, Christmas is a good time to find people who have a beef with Christianity (most declared atheists are running away from a Judeo-Christian faith) and who might be good leads to join your group. More members means more donations, more donations means more protest actitivity which brings more leads to convert into members, which leads to more donations, etc etc etc.
A couple of years back I wrote up my take of an atheist's view of Christmas with particular attention to the word "Holiday". Simply put, if you ever happen to run across an atheist who wants you to use the phrase "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", you should simply inform them that they must not indeed be actual atheists because if they were, they'd realize that "Happy Holidays" is actually more offensive to a true atheist than Christmas is.
Christmas is simply one of the major holy days in the Christian religion. As a true atheist, I have absolutely NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER, with Christians (or anyone else for that matter) celebrating Christmas. I also have NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER with a nation (in this example, the U.S.) recognizing that the dominant religion within the population has a major holy day and providing reasonable accomodation for such a holy day by declaring a legal holiday.
Did you catch that, my meager readership. Did you see that connection between "holiday" and "holy day". Most of you probably didn't realize when you read it, but in fact the word "holiday", which "atheist groups" want you to use, actually means "holy day". Yes, folks, the root of holiday is holy day, and as a true atheist I'm far more offended by the omnibus "holiday" ("holy day") declaration than I am with the specific identifier of Christmas.
I recognize that the Christians have a major event this time of year, and I have no problem with recognizing it because it's a real and tangible event. HOWEVER, giving a blanket declaration that essentially states that this period is now defined as the holy day period; I've got a big ole problem with that.
Saying "Happy Holidays" is forcing an acknoledgement of certain days as generically "holy", and I simply can't do that as an atheist. I can recognize that groups claim certain days as holy, but I'm not going to be forced to recognize that we all must hold certain days as "holy". I'm actually highly offended at the concept that we recognize some days as "holy" and some as not. Don't foist that omnibus universal declaration upon me fella.
Call events for what they are. It's simple. If you are a Christian or a in a Christian dominant society, then Christmas is the event in question, if you're Jewish, you're in the midst of Hanuakka (click here for a video that might clear up some questions about spelling that). Acknoledging these specific religious days is fine by me, it keeps the event right out there where I can see it, it also doesn't force upon me any recognition that such days are "holy" and doesn't put me in a compromised position. "Happy Holidays" forces me to recognize something that simply isn't in my set of truths. "Merry Christmas" merely identifies the person wishing it as a Christian, I can accept it with a "thank you" and move along, there's no need to correct the wisher or say anything about my faith (or lack thereof).
Greeting me with "Happy Holidays" isn't the same thing to me. I don't mind being excluded from the set that celebrates Christmas as the birth of Jesus, but I do mind being forced into acknoledging that this time is some set of omnibus "holy days". To me, every day is just like the other, I shouldn't be forced into a position of accepting a certain set of days as "holy", and those who try (especially those claiming atheist status, yet pushing this canard) to push it upon me are the violators, not those who are announcing their personal holy day.
So those of you claiming to be an atheist, scrub Happy Holidays from your vocabulary, or admit you're simply not really an atheist, but merely anti-Christian. To those who walk on eggshells about saying "Merry Christmas", stop walking on eggshells and shout "Merry Christmas" from your rooftop, because you are guaranteed the right to practice and advocate your religion and it's holy days to your heart's content. You proclaiming your religion and it's events is not impacting me, nor is it forcing anything upon me. However, if you're a Christian or not, and you try to foist a bunch of "holy days" upon me, look out, because I'm going to come back swinging (ok, not really swinging, but I will most probably correct you).
Just say no to "holidays", embrace Christmas (or not, your choice), and if you need to, give some love to the Jews and wish a "Happy Chanuakka" (again, click here for help spelling that one).
--Jason
PS - Sometimes I wish more people would just celebrate Festivus, that way we'd see this Festivus classic more often:
-JC
Posted by JasonColeman at December 14, 2007 10:17 AM
